Neck and Back Pain

Neck Physiotherapy & Back Physiotherapy

Back pain is a very common complaint – an estimated 60-80% of people will be affected by back pain at some point in their life. Although backpain can occur at any age, it is most commonly presents between 30 and 55.

Neck pain is also very common, but the incidence is far more sporadic. We tend to see a lot of neckpain that presents as an acute injury, but has been in the making for years. The neck is extremely flexible and can spend many years adjusting and compensating to alleviate pain. As a result when people have lived with a “sore neck” for years they, they are unnecessarily allowing a disability and permanent dysfunction to develop. Ultimately this will seriously affect their quality of life.

Your spine contains numerous structures, including bones, joints, muscles, ligaments, tendons and nerves. The spine is made up of 24 individual bones called vertebrae, the sacrum and coccyx (tail bone). There are discs between each of the vertebrae that act as shock absorbers and allow flexibility in your spine. Your spinal cord travels down the central canal of each vertebra and exit the spine as nerve roots, carrying information to and from your brain to the rest of your body. Considering all of the above, it is understandable that occasionally something goes wrong. One of the reasons why back and neck pain often needs help to resolve is that the body will allow for other levels of the spine to compensate and does not give the injured structure the opportunity to return to normal function.

We specialize in the treatment of:

Acute and chronic neck and back pain/injuries

Recurrent headaches

Poor postural alignment and control

Shoulder and arm pain, referred from the neck

Sciatica, referred by the lower-back or hip.

Stiffness and pain of the thoracic spine

The treatment approach is determined by the findings of an in depth assessment of the spine. This includes testing for movement, flexibility, alignment and stability.